ALERT: Sheffield residents warned about cold calling iTunes scam

Sheffield residents are being warned about a cold calling scam involving the selling of fake iTunes accounts.

Cyber crime reporting centre Action Fraud said fraudsters have been calling at people's homes out of the blue and claiming to be from the Financial Ombudsman Service.

They are reportedly telling householders they have a cheque for a large amount of money from a compensation claim.

The victim is then told to buy an iTunes voucher roughly to the value of £300 to ‘release’ the compensation.

They then claim that a courier will collect it from their home address and that a cheque will be sent to them in the post.

But Action Fraud said this is a scam and urged members of the public to 'never buy iTunes or gift vouchers if instructed to by someone claiming to be from a government body or official.'

A spokesperson added: "The service, which deals with complaints from consumers about the financial services industry, is a free service for the public and it would never cold call households to ask for a fee in order to claim reimbursement.

"If you think a call claiming to be from the Ombudsman is suspicious you can call them directly on 0300 123 9123."